Opening of railway over bridges in Vellore, Tiruvannamalai town and Cheyyar by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Thursday, through video conference, has brought relief to hundreds of residents as they no longer have to take a detour for a few kilometres to reach the towns. Located on the Thandurai - Tiruvannamalai Main Road, the railway over bridge (ROB) in Tiruvannamalai town connects the temple town with neighbouring areas like Chetpet, Arani, Polur, Vandavasi, Chengam and Arcot. Within the town also, the new facility will ease traffic congestion. “Due to the railway level crossing, we had to take a detour for at least three km to reach the other side of the main road. During emergencies, the detour proved costly to us,” said K. Perumal, a resident in Tiruvannamalai. Officials said that the multi-crore project got its administrative sanction way back in October 2013 from the State government with an initial cost of ₹32.90 crore under the Railway Projects 2014-15 scheme. The project got delayed due to land acquisition and procedural delays. Five years later, the work for the railway bridge was started in September 2018 by the State Highways Department, which maintains the stretch, with a deadline of 24 months. The track portion of the project was done by the Southern Railway. With over an year and half delay from the scheduled date of completion, the bridge was opened on Thursday bringing much needed relief to the residents of the temple town.
For residents, the railway bridge, which is 666 metres long and built at a cost of ₹41.74 crore including railway’s contribution of ₹3 crore, connects neighbouring big towns. The bridge is also located on the Puducherry - Krishnagiri High Road, which is a State Highway (SH 55), connecting Puducherry, Tindivanam, Villupuram, Tirukovilur, Gingee, Chennai, Krishnagiri and Bengaluru and vice versa. As a major tourism spot, tourists to the town’s famous Arunachalesvara Temple will also benefit.
